1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, brain Stuff 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: Florin vogel mom here. Don't ignore purple flags at the beach. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: When American lifeguards fly them, it's because potentially dangerous sea 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: creatures have appeared in the water. Maybe there's a gang 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: of jellyfish close by, or perhaps some stingrays are on 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: the move. But a purple flag can also signal the 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: arrival of a much weirder life form, Physalia physalis, a 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: venomous drifter with a mean sting, commonly known as the 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: Portuguese man o war. The Portuguese man o war is 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: partially transparent, a black suspine, and kills prey with stinging tentacles. 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: You might mistake it for a jellyfish, but it's not. 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: A jellyfish is a singular animal, just like you were 13 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: me hypothetically. On the other hand, every Portuguese man o 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: war is a floating colony made up of smaller, genetically 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: identical entities that each develop from a single fertilized egg 16 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: and have different functions, but all live and work in concert. 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: Portuguese men of war are a type of colonial animal 18 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,279 Speaker 1: called a siphonophore. There are about one hundred and seventy 19 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: five known species of siphonophores, all of which are colonies 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: of zooids. Hundreds or even thousands of zooids might make 21 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: up the colony for the article. This episode is based 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: on how stuff Works spoke by email with biologist Patriona Monro. 23 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: She said that from an evolutionary standpoint, these bodies are 24 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: similar quote to free living individuals, but the colony itself 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: functions as an individual and the bodies or units within 26 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: the colony do not. A Portuguese man o war is 27 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: comprised of a few different types of zooids with different functions. 28 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: Some of them, the gastrozooids, break down food for the colony. 29 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: That food is captured in the first place by the 30 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: grasping tentacle like dactyl zooids. Another important player is the pneumataphore, 31 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: a gas filled flotation bladder. And let's not forget about 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 1: the procreation specialists. Human beings might not have too many 33 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: things biologically in common with Portuguese meno war, yet they, 34 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: like us, reproduce sexually. Every colony produces sperm cells or 35 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: egg cells, but not both. Houstuffworks also spoke via email 36 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: with Paul Bologna of Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. 37 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: He explained that during the Portuguese man of war's reproductive seasons, 38 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: colonies shed their sex cells out into the water. When 39 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: a sperm meets and fertilizes an egg, a new colony 40 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: starts growing. Bologna said, these cells begin to divide and 41 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: develop in the water column. As the individual grows, new 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: zooids clones within the colony are generated. As the early 43 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: colony develops, the noumatophoor expands and fills with air, which 44 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: brings it to the surface, where final development and growth occurs. Basically, 45 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: it's have pneumataphor will travel once inflated. This specialty air 46 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: sack kind of resembles a deformed party balloon. It's how 47 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the colony gets around. Unlike octopuses or true jellyfish, Portuguese 48 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: men of war can't actively swim. The species must instead 49 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: rely on its bloated pneumataphor, which pokes out above the 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: surface of the water and catches the wind like a 51 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: ship's sail, propelling the whole colony forward. That's how the 52 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: Portuguese man o war got its name. By the way, 53 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,839 Speaker 1: it doesn't have anything to do with geography or any 54 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: other particular connection to Portugal, or rather, the critter's distinctive 55 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: sailing mechanism reminded people of the shapes of fifteenth century 56 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: Portuguese warships. Each man of war colony is actually considered 57 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: either right handed or left handed, depending on how that 58 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: noumatophor structure is oriented relative to the colony's tentacles that 59 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: rest below the water's surface. When a left handed colony 60 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: is pushed by the wind, it naturally moves to the right. 61 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: Right handed ones are driven towards the left. Tropical waters 62 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: are the usual domain of this species, but pay heed 63 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: every so often winds and currents sweet men of war 64 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: into more temperate places, Bologna said. In the Northern Atlantic Ocean, 65 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: Portuguese meta war often get carried north with the Gulf 66 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: Stream current off the coast of the United States, so 67 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: it's common to see them wash up on beaches from 68 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: South Carolina to Maine. Additionally, the Gulf Stream continues across 69 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: the Atlantic, so they wash up along the coast of 70 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: England and northern European countries quite frequently. Over in the 71 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: Indo Pacific, there's a smaller but otherwise similar lookings iphonophor 72 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: called the blue bottle. There's been some debate about whether 73 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: or not it belongs to the same species as the 74 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: man of war. In the man of War, Beneath the 75 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: floating balloon lies network of tentacles capable of measuring thirty 76 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: feet or nine meters long, or even upward of one 77 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: hundred feet around thirty meters long. They're loaded with the 78 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: invertebrates not so secret weapon stinging cells bologna explained. Within 79 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: each of these cells is a harpoon like structure or 80 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: organelle called a nomaticist, whose function is to release and 81 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: penetrate the skin of another organism and then release its 82 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: cocktail of venoms. That's because metal war are carnivorous. These 83 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: injections can paralyze fish, crustaceans, and other small animals so 84 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: that the colony can eat them. Human beings aren't on 85 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: the menu, but beach goers should still keep their distance. 86 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: The sting of a Portuguese man o war can trigger 87 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: agonizing skin pain. Other symptoms might include abdominal pain, vomiting, headaches, 88 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: and diarrhea. Human fatalities are rare, but not unheard of. 89 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: That's why you should beware of a man of war 90 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: floating in open water, those long ten ol can wrap 91 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: around you and discharge a dangerous number of stinging cells. 92 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: Beached men of war can sting you two, so don't 93 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: touch one if you ever see one lying on the 94 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: sand should you get stung, though, researchers have a few tips, 95 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: and no, none of them involve urine. How stuff works, 96 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: also spoke i email angel Jaanagahara from the University of 97 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: Hawaii at Manoa, who was part of a team the 98 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: compared different treatment strategies for stings in a twenty seventeen study. 99 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: As she said, a first aid for the man of 100 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: war is a bit controversial. Vinegar is generally recommended as 101 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: a first step to prevent additional discharge of nomaticists left 102 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: on the skin. So what's step number two? Your most 103 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: practical option might be to immerse the affected area in 104 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: skin safe hot water, or apply a hot pack with 105 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 1: a temperature of one hundred and seven to one hundred 106 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: and thirteen degrees fahrenheit that's forty two to forty five 107 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: degrees celsius. Keep it on for thirty two to forty 108 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,359 Speaker 1: five minutes. The heat will inactivate some of the venom 109 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: compounds causing the pain. However, the team's research did show 110 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: that if you have access to it, applying Sting No 111 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: More spray followed by Sting No More cream has even 112 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: better and faster results than treatment with heat. One thing 113 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: you definitely should not do is pee on the injury. 114 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: Urine is sometimes touted as a folk remedy for jellyfish 115 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: and Portuguese man o war stings. A nineteen ninety seven 116 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: episode of the sitcom Friends popularized this idea, and don't 117 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: buy it. Yanagahara said, scientific studies have not shown that 118 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: urine reduces venom activity or tissue damage. Today's episode is 119 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: based on the article the Portuguese Man of War is 120 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: not a Jellyfish and packs a nasty sting on HowStuffWorks 121 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: dot Com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production 122 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and 123 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 124 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 125 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.